Stay Up Late
by AtLoLevad
Summary: While Donna's at a gala, Josh spends quality time with their daughter.


Josh had worked as Chief of Staff for Matt Santos for two years and nearly eight years as Jed Bartlett's deputy Chief of Staff before that. He'd spent time on presidential campaigns. He'd been to law school at Harvard.

The point being, Josh was more than used to late nights and nights where he got no sleep at all.

He'd thought that the late nights working for Leo, working with the senior staff of the Bartlett administration were worth the exhaustion. He'd solved crises, sent bills through Congress, put out countless fires (some even literal ones that he'd started). He'd done a lot of good, but none of those late nights meant what these late nights meant.

"Jo," he sing-songed in a whisper, leaning over the side of Josie's crib. The two month old gave a gummy smile and waved her hands in the air. Josh complied with the implied command and lifted the squirming infant into his arms.

"Hi baby," he cooed. (Josh Lyman cooing! He'd lost all of the street cred that he never really had to begin with.) Josie blew spit bubbles in response and let out a little squeak.

"Do you miss mommy? Is that it?" Josh asked, reverting back to his normal tone. He and Donna had avoided the baby talk, instead talking to Josie as if she were one of them. It made for some interesting moments - Josh liked to tell the baby how frustrating he found some of the Congressmen that needed, just desperately needed, to talk to Santos. Donna always got a good kick out of watching him wait for a response, as if Josie would agree that yes, Congressman Ricci did have the most high pitched and simultaneously congested voice she'd ever heard.

Now, Josh held Josie close, hand cradling the back of her neck. "I'll let you in on a little secret, I miss mommy too," he muttered, inhaling the scent that was uniquely their baby. Donna was at a gala with the First Lady - it was being held in honor of Helen Santos' work with Planned Parenthood, and was thus women-only.

Josh didn't mind at all. It meant that Santos had kicked him out of the White House early, with a directive to spend quality time with his baby girl. Josh had grabbed a quick dinner with Sam, both men sharing stories about their respective children and planning maybe just a little on how to match-make Josie Lyman and Jack Seaborn, before they went to their respective homes.

Once home, Josh had relieved the nanny, an older woman that practically thought of Josie as her granddaughter, and shed his suit in favor of ratty sweats and a Harvard shirt that had seen better days. He and Josie had curled up on the couch, CNN's volume turned down low, as Josh explained politics to the baby. He softly brushed a hand over the downy blonde peach fuzz on her head as he spoke.

"I'm boring you, huh?" he had whispered a few minutes after settling down with Josie. Politics just weren't interesting until you hit six months, Josh figured. The baby was soundly passed out, her little rosebud mouth wide open and her eyelids twitching. Josh brushed the back of his index finger over Jodie's cheek. She looked so peaceful and she was so *quiet*, so Josh relaxed back into the couch, planning on moving Josie when she woke up in two hours for her next feeding.

He zoned out to CNN, eventually dozing off, as the next thing he heard was Josie's sharp little shriek of hunger. He jolted awake, immediately shushing the baby as he got up to get one of the bottles of breast milk Donna had left earlier. Josie sucked it down quickly, falling back into a milk coma after a loud burp.

Josh had put her in the crib and crawled into bed with a few files for the next day, hoping to get a little work done before Josie's next feeding.

He'd fallen asleep though, but woke up in time for the midnight feeding. Josie didn't seem to want to go back to sleep, so that's where Josh found himself at midnight on a Friday, rocking his baby girl in his arms, waiting for Donna to get home from the gala dinner.

He yawned a little and grinned when Josie reached up and yanked at his lower lip. "Hey, not nice, kiddo," he laughed, nibbling gently on the baby's fingers.

"What time do you think Mommy's getting home?" he asked rhetorically. "She's with Auntie Ainsley, so that means there's definitely going to be a milkshake run once the party ends."

Josie squeaked in agreement, blinking wide blue eyes up at her dad.

"Think she'd actually be nice and bring us back some?" Josh grinned. "Nah, Mommy made us make do with milk and dry burgers scarfed down with Uncle Sam."

He paused and then laughed, "Hey, I just realized, you've got an Uncle Sam and he's gonna be President one day. Oh man, I can't wait until Fourth of July."

Josie wiggled restlessly in his arms, screwing up her little face in concentration.

"Aw man," Josh wrinkled his nose as the smell hit. He grumbled all throughout the changing process. Diapers would always be his least favorite baby chore.

"Too bad Donna missed this one," he shook his head, resting Josie on her playmat so he could wash his hands. Once he was all scrubbed off, Josh laid down on the floor next to Josie and tickled her stomach, her baby giggles contagious.

He was laughing so much; he didn't hear the front door open, announcing Donna's arrival.

"My two favorite people, laughing, just how I like it," she said, smiling widely.

Josh looked up, slightly startled at her sudden voice. "Donna!" he exclaimed, thrilled to see her.

And then he got a good look at her outfit and his eyes widened and his jaw went slack.

"Wow," he breathed. "You look...you look...wow."

"I knew Sam was the wordsmith, but I always thought you were blessed with the gift of gab too," she laughed, setting her envelope clutch down on the side table and bending down to unbuckle her heels.

Josh stood up, gathering Josie in his arms. "I can't help it. My wife makes me speechless."

"Where was that skill back in the day?" Donna quipped, sighing happily as she kicked her heels off and under the coffee table. She made grabby hands at Josh, "Give me my baby!"

Josh handed Josie over easily, the baby settling against Donna's chest and closing her eyes. Donna cupped her hand around Josie's head and nuzzled her cheek against the top of her head.

"Oh I missed her," Donna mumbled.

"It was only like 5 hours," Josh said, leaning against the wall and looking down at the spectacular view of Donna's cleavage. She'd been breast-feeding, so she was a solid two cup sizes bigger than usual. Plus her dress, the tight silk with its off the shoulder sleeves, lifted them in magnificent fashion. He couldn't tear his eyes away.

"Stop ogling me, Joshua," Donna mock-scolded her husband. "And five hours is a long time to be away from this precious face."

She peppered the baby's face with kisses, giggling at the red lipstick marks left behind.

"What about my precious face?" Josh whined, pouting.

Donna looked up, a smirk twisting her lips. She used her free hand to reach up and grab the neck of Josh's shirt to pull his face to hers. She planted an open mouthed kiss on him.

"Better?" she rolled her eyes affectionately.

"Yeah," Josh replied, looking a little dopey.

Donna stood up, Josie cradled to her chest, "Come on, baby, Mama wants to change."

Donna was halfway back to their bedroom when Josh startled and yelped, "Donna! You gotta let me take that dress off of you with my teeth. It deserves nothing less."

"Josh!" Donna widened her eyes and covered the baby's ear with her free hand. "Little ears!"

"Aw, she doesn't know what I'm saying," he waved his hand in the air.

"They're impressionable, Josh!" Donna protested, but Josh was suddenly at her side, fingers trailing against the back zipper of her dress. "Josh," she drew out his name in a warning.

"Donna," he replied in the same tone, fingers working their way up her back until he could tug at the zipper. "I missed you."

She breathed a laugh through her nose. "Oh you're insufferable," she clamped her lips shut to prevent a smile from escaping. "If you manage to stay awake until I put Josie down..." she trailed off suggestively and Josh beamed.

"Oh don't you worry," he wiggled his eyebrows, "I'll be waiting when you're ready."

He darted off to their bedroom, leaving Donna to hope he was off to brush his teeth. While she did love him, the mix of coffee, beer, and morning breath was not an aphrodisiac.

"Come on, pumpkin," Donna cuddled Josie close and headed to the nursery. "I've got to wipe all this lipstick off of you. Mommy's so silly."

She gently wiped the lipstick marks off of the baby's face, changed her into a fresh diaper, and into warmer pajamas. Finally, Josie's eyes closed and Donna was comfortable leaving her to sleep in the bassinet. With a lingering look at the sleeping infant, Donna left the door open and went into the bedroom.

And found Josh passed out on the bed, papers hastily pushed onto the floor.

Donna couldn't hold in her laughter at the sight of him.

Josh's mouth was wide open and he was snoring softly. She wasn't sure what had happened in the fifteen minutes it took to get Josie in bed, but his hair was even worse than before, sticking up wild. He looked sweet while he slept.

She changed quietly, slipping into the very old Indiana State sweatshirt that made her laugh whenever she thought about the day she, Josh, and Toby had spent trying to get back home. It was ratty and full of holes and so faded the letters were nearly nonexistent, but she loved it all the same.

"Donna?" Josh stirred awake when she climbed onto her side of the bed. His eyes were still shut, but he reached out a hand for her.

"Hi," she whispered, tucking her body against his side and tangling her legs with his.

"I fell asleep," he said mournfully, eyelids opening slowly. Donna smiled at him and ran her hand through his hair.

"Yeah, you did, honey," she yawned.

"I didn't wanna fall asleep. I wanted to ravish you," he whined.

Donna giggled tiredly. "I so wanted to be ravished too, Josh. But I'm so tired."

She curled even closer to him, eyes already closing. She just really wanted a little sleep before Josie woke up again. Donna loved being Chief of Staff to Helen Santos and she loved going to events with Ainsley, but having an infant at home, coupled with the late nights was starting to take its toll on her.

"Tomorrow?" Josh asked, wrapping his arms around her back and burying his face in her neck.

Donna pressed a kiss to his shoulder and agreed, "tomorrow."

* * *

 _A/N: A little bit of plotless fluff - I just wanted to write Josh and his baby. My fun headcanon - Josie is named for Bartlett (Josiah) and little Jack Seaborn who only got a passing mention is named for JFK as a nod to Rob Lowe's portrayal of 35._

 _I'm always open to prompts :)_


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